WilliamzE60 550

Really looking forward to seeing this set up working.

wtlb

Amazing project my man. Great work!!

ccr0ss

Thanks for the encouragement. I apologize for not keeping you guys more informed on the progress, I was working towards the competition of a thesis project and since I am at the final stage, there is not really much time to work in the car. Nevertheless, I wanted to let you know where I'm at now.

First, the computer and its peripherals (Bluetooth, GPS, OBD2, etc) are all ready, their respective wiring harness area completed and everything is ready for assembly and real-world testing. Now, the challenge that I am facing is to put everything into their proper places in the dashboard frame.

I have decided to modify the dashboard (remove the leather-like leather, remove the foam and cut some pieces of the fiber-reinforced plastic shell) to make the new screen fit better in the car and have a more OE look. Also, I was bored with the looks of the dashboard. I already cut the section that I needed and fifty percent of the hole I cut is already covered with fiberglass. I still need to complete the screen section and the screen mount in fiberglass. And since the computer power supply and the screen are directly mounted onto the dashboard, I cannot complete the project until I finish the fiberglass refinishing of it.

I also wanted to clarify that this step is completely unnecessary to mount the new screen, you just need to figure out a clever way to attach the screen into the iDrive screen hole.

I am finishing the last touches of my thesis in these few weeks before the semester ends, but I am going to start working in the dashboard whenever I have a little bit of free time. I will post some pictures of my progress with the dashboard this week.

DannyT

Can't wait to see how you got it in !!

ccr0ss

Hey, guys!

I am posting some picture of my progress with the dashboard so far. I am sorry I could not do this in December as I posted before. Some complications emerged that impeded me from doing so.

Now, to the point: I would like to clarify that what I did is completely unnecessary to complete this project, but I wanted to do something different with my car and since I chose to redo the whole leather interior further along the road, I saw fit to change the appearance of the dashboard a bit.

This is what the dashboard looks like when you remove the black leather-like rubber surface (or real leather if that is what you have):


And this is what it looks like when you remove all the foam from the dashboard:


And this is what it looks like after cutting the dashboard fiber-reinforced plastic and replace it with fiberglass (not done yet):








I wanted to level the whole dashboard right up to the instrument cluster panel section, so I cut everything up to the right air duct. Again, this is completely unnecessary even if you want to redo your dashboard. It just adds further complication . I learned while doing this that you could strip the dashboard from the top cover (leather or rubber), then strip it from the foam and cut the center section (highlighted with the green marking tape as seen in one of the pictures above), do that part with fiberglass and then something like Great Stuff Gaps and Cracks/Big Gap Filler (or any other two-part fire retardant expanding foam) to create the foam surface on top of which to put the final leather layer. After putting the foam on top of the dashboard, it is necessary to mold it to whatever shapes/lines we want the top layer of the dashboard to have. Here is where you can get creative without messing everything up. Just take into consideration that you need to cut the lines for the airbag section so when the airbag deploys, it is not affected by either the foam or the leather top layer. In my case, I have to cut the lines for the airbag into the fiberglass section I made (again, completely unnecesary, but now you don't have to ).

The only thing you actually need to is to make a custom (don't be afraid) mounting base for the screen that occupies the same place the iDrive screen occupied. It will protrude a bit (or a lot, depending on your design) from the original screen hole. You can use fiberglass to do it or even plastic/metal if that is easy for you.

ccr0ss

This how the computer looks like already installed in the car:



I am going to fabricate a small bracket (a simple 3-4 inch long 1 inch wide piece of 3-4mm thick metal) to hold the computer inside the bracket. I will also add two small shock absorbing sponges to the computer, one in the back and one in the front.

efy

That is amazing man, can't wait to see the finished product,

ccr0ss

Here is an update on the project. I tested the screen for the first time and it works! Nevertheless, I forgot to buy the driver board for the touchscreen when I got the rest of the screen parts. It costs about $10 on eBay, so not bad at all. I also installed a DC distribution block in the dashboard frame so I don't have to run too many long wires to power the new equipment (computer, screen, bluetooth module, etc.). I also wanted to finish this part of the interior overhaul as soon as possible, so I got a new dashboard very cheap (I mean, $110 cheap), so I am going to redo only the bottom part (the tan/beige part below). Here are some pictures:

The new dash:


The computer installed with the improvised bracket:

I removed the cables that connect to the computer to test fit the computer, the bracket and the new wiring. I installed the glove compartment to see if I was going to have any fitment issue, but everything is perfect.

Here is the DC-DC power distribution block I installed. It is connected directly into the battery by means of the red wire and I also tapped into one of the ground blocks at the left side of the passenger foot-well. I am planning to power everthing from here and run the cables alongside the frame section that supports the passenger airbag from below.


Another view:

ccr0ss

Alright, I tried the the Bluetooth interface I got from eBay together with the Remote Phone Call/CallCenter app. I have to say I do not like how the app looks so much, and specially the lack of a full screen mode. Here are some pictures of the interface (I used another computer for the pictures since the Infotainment System is already installed in the car, but the screen mount is not finished yet.

This is the CallCenter client for Windows:


This is the client interface while doing a phone call:


Here is a picture of my phone while using the client to make a phone call:


In summary, you need to have a bluetooth module connected to the car (to sync the phone to the computer for phone book and other features) and also have one audio-capable bluetooth module (like the CSR8645, in order to use it as a headset). The phone needs to be connected to both modules simultaneously and the software does the rest. Now, there are three things that need to be addressed with CSR8645 module, and presumably, other cheap Bluetooth modules that come from China. First, you need to find a better input device (microphone). I am planning to use the Andrea Array microphone and split the connection between the CSR8645 microphone input socket and the and computer microphone computer. In that way, I can use the same microphone for both the Bluetooth module and for voice-commanding Cortana if I want to. Second, it is necessary to plug the audio output of the module to the computer line-in. In that way, the sound coming out of the module is routed through the computer into the speaker system. Now, I was getting some background noise from the Bluetooth module from time to time when it was not being used. I assume that this can be corrected with a ground loop noise isolator (about $10 from amazon, even cheaper if you get them from eBay). I will get back to you guys on that as soon as I test it. Finally, there is the issue of range. The seller stated that the module was good up to 10 meters, but in reality the range is not really great. So, I did some research and found a couple of DIY guides to extend the range on these modules. It is actually quite simple. Here it is:

This is the original Bluetooth module I got:

If you look close, you can see the red circle in the picture. This circle shows the aerial section of the module (antenna). What I did was to remove most of the gold-plated diagram that looks like the old nokia-based game of worms with a sharp knife until i got about two millimeters of the gold-plated antenna at the base (yellow circle) then I got a copper wire from a stripped TV cable and welded it two the ramaining gold-plated section of the antenna. In my module, there are two channels that connect the antenna to the module. So, I welded the copper wire to both of them. BTW, I got the idea from this site: Improving the aerial on a mini bluetooth dongle | Products of Mike's Mind. This is what the module looks like after welding the improvised antenna:


This is a picture of the module that gives you an idea of the size of the new antenna:

The length is exaggerated, I know, but I wanted to make sure that I had enough copper wire to work with. The result is a great range (so far about 15-20 meters).

Yellow Dog

OK - So I bought a ready made one, but then sold the car, so here it is here for sale: iDRIVE Computer Upgrade BMW 5 E60 E61 E63 E64 | Trade Me. Fitting is as easy as, unless of course you want to start adding stuff that wasn't there already.